Special investigator Andreas Paschalides has been summoned to a parliamentary committee that will scrutinise his findings over the Videogate affair, but it’s unclear if he will attend, it transpired on Thursday.

On July 31 the House ethics committee will come together in an extraordinary session to discuss in depth the Videogate case. MPs are expected to ask a series of questions that they feel were left unanswered by Paschalides’ statement earlier this week.

Committee chair Demetris Demetriou (Disy) confirmed that they have summoned Paschalides.

However, it remains unclear if the investigator will appear.

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MPs are expected to ask that the entire investigative dossier be handed over to them.

The dossier is now with the attorney-general’s office. The attorney-general is unlikely to hand it over, arguing that there’s an ongoing assessment of the findings and that therefore disclosure at this time might interfere with potential future criminal proceedings.

According to Paschalides’ statement, no criminal wrongdoing was found on the parts of any of the public figures who appeared in a video leaked in January alleging pay-to-play influence peddling and campaign finance lawbreaking on the part of President Nikos Christodoulides and his associates.

The investigator said the video is “not authentic” but instead “the product of editing”, and that “therefore, in addition to being a product of unconstitutional actions and therefore inadmissible testimony, it is of little, if any probative value”.

Paschalides spoke of three Cypriots appearing in the clip, “two of whom are known for their active involvement in the country’s political events, while the third is known for his activities in the business sector”.

As such, he added, “the goal of the production of the video appears to be to harm the Republic of Cyprus and not private interests”.

Paschalides said “responsibility for the production of the video lies with a private company, with non-Cypriot interests, registered abroad” – referring to Black Cube, an Israeli private intelligence outfit.

Given this, one question which MPs want an answer to is how Paschalides concluded that the affair constitutes a case of ‘hybrid warfare’ against Cyprus, when it has yet to be established who commissioned Black Cube to carry out the undercover operation.

Paschalides has meantime secured an extension until the end of the year to identify the person or persons who paid Black Cube.

Another question MPs may ask is how Paschalides concluded that the published eight-minute clip is inauthentic, whereas the raw footage – about 26 hours – has been confirmed as authentic.

Lawmakers will also want to know why Paschalides – along with the attorney-general’s office – agreed to let Black Cube ‘off the hook’ without previously having secured evidence on who bankrolled their operation.

Contacted by the Cyprus Mail, Disy’s Demetriou confirmed these will be some of the questions posed by MPs.

“Mr Paschalides’ statement contains several contradictions,” he said.

Yet another question is how Paschalides can assert he found no criminal wrongdoing, while at the same time referring to potential influence peddling – which is a criminal offence.

Others summoned to appear at the House ethics committee are officials from the attorney-general’s office, senior police officials, a representative of the justice minister, the head of the anti-corruption authority, and an attorney for Black Cube.

The video’s publication in January led to the resignation of the president’s chief of staff Charalambos Charalambous – one of the persons appearing in the clip – and to First Lady Philippa Karsera Christodoulides resigning her role as chairwoman of the social support body.